Nasha Faces Jail

| Monday June 16, 2008 00:00

Twenty court presidents and 21 deputies intend to institute legal proceedings for an order declaring Nasha to be in contempt of a High Court order dated December 19, 2003. Monitor is reliably informed that the distressed urban court presidents and their deputies met in Mahalapye on May 10 and decided to take the court route. 

This emerged in a correspondence dated May 27, 2008 to Nasha written by the court presidents' lawyer Wada Nfila. The basis of the intended application is that on December 19, 2003 the then Justice Moatlhodi Marumo ordered that: 'Urban court presidents are declared to be entitled to be remunerated at the salary scale D3 in the same way as deputy chiefs from April 1, 2000'.

Nfila wrote that Marumo's order was made consequent upon a hearing on the merits of an application filed by urban court presidents and their deputies. 'The reasoning of the honourable court, which led to the order made, was essentially that the job evaluation exercise of 1988 placed the urban presidents at par with deputy chiefs in respect of remuneration.

'On the basis of the court order, you placed clients in the D3 salary scale together with deputy chiefs. Clients were also paid arrear benefits. In March 2008, you revised the salary scale of deputy chiefs upwards, viz, from D3 to D2. The salary scales of urban court presidents remain the same and in some instances, has been revised downwards.'

The court presidents contend that Nasha's action is contemptuous of Marumo's order and the reasoning underlying it. 'With respect to deputy court presidents, they too have a complaint. While the High Court did not make any order specific to them, the court did remark that you were obliged to peg them at par with senior chief's representatives.

Deputy court presidents therefore make the demand that you revise their salary scales to the same level as that of senior chief's representatives,' Nfila said. He advised Nasha that should she continue to disobey the court order and fail to meet the demand made herein, his clients shall, after 30 days of the date hereof approach the High Court for appropriate relief. Monitor is informed that the Ministry of Local Government was caught unawares by the demand. The ministry is currently working behind the scenes to avoid the envisaged court action. Nasha's personal secretary slammed the phone when Monitor reached her for comment.